Seton Hall basketball: The odyssey of Jaden Bediako

Jaden Bediako entered the college basketball transfer portal on April 4. He’d put in four years with Santa Clara, helped the Broncos post three 20-win seasons and was picking up a bachelor’s degree. He sought some new scenery as a postgrad.

“I wanted to challenge myself,” he said. “I didn’t want to leave college without doing everything I could to get better.”

Bediako woke on April 5 to a missed phone call. He didn’t recognize the number. It was from Seton Hall assistant Rasheen Davis. He knew little about the Pirates except that fellow Canadian big man Tyrese Samuel had played well there – and that they were the first program to contact him through the portal. It was a sign they really wanted him.

“I was surprised,” Bediako said. “I was expecting to go the mid-major route.”

The surprises were only beginning.

After putting up modest numbers at Santa Clara, the 6-foot-10 center has flourished in South Orange beyond just about anyone’s expectations. He leads the Big East in offensive rebounds, ranks second in blocked shots and references Greek mythology (he minored in classics at Santa Clara) as he helps the overachieving Pirates pursue an NCAA Tournament berth.

“A phoenix seems about right, rising from the ashes,” Bediako said of a metaphor for his team. “I would also say the journey of Odysseus. That was a lot longer, but we’ve come a long way. We’re not there yet, but we’re getting there.”

His own odyssey is a lesson in college basketball’s most underappreciated value – fit.

Seeing what others didn't

The only other high-majors to express interest in Bediako last spring were Clemson and Oklahoma State. After averaging 6.0 points and 4.9 boards in the West Coast Conference, he flew under the radar.

But Davis was tuned in. As an assistant coach at Arizona State in 2019-2020, he came across Jaden while recruiting his brother Charles Bediako, who wound up at Alabama.

“We wanted someone who was big and physical and able to grind it out defensively with the other bigs in the league,” Davis said. “He’s someone who I thought we would have a shot at getting, and who would fit who we are off the court.”

Davis was first alerted to the Bediako family through Dwayne Washington, an old friend from the Bronx who is a prominent AAU coach in Canada. When Jaden turned up in the portal, Washington knew Davis would grasp what other portal-miners didn’t.

“They didn’t know what to make of him because his numbers weren’t high enough, and people overthink,” Washington said. “When you’re a fifth-year guy, you have great grades, you’re solid, and you know how to play – everybody wants to hit a home run in the portal, but you’ve got to get guys who are dependable and reliable. That’s Jaden.”

The Samuel connection helped. For starters, Samuel did Seton Hall a solid by entering the transfer portal in March instead of later in the offseason (he’s now playing at Florida as a postgrad). That gave the Hall’s coaches time to beat the bushes and the ability to sell opportunity. Samuel also gave Bediako a positive review of his time there.

And Michael Meeks, a 2000 Olympian who works with Canada’s national basketball team and is a mentor to Bediako, was impressed by Shaheen Holloway’s usage of Samuel last season.

“Hats off to the Seton Hall staff because J.B. and Tyrese are two totally different physical specimens, but the staff there – their ability to get it out of both players at that position has been phenomenal,” Meeks said.

Tarry Upshaw, who coached Bediako throughout high school, said he foresaw a breakout.

“I told him, 'The physicality of the Big East will help your game,'” Upshaw said. “When he was out west, you really couldn’t touch people. Their forwards are all pick-and-pop, Euro league kind of guys. You get Big J popping out to 18-20 feet, that’s not his comfort zone. At Seton Hall, the big guys get the ball inside. There’s grinding.”

Upshaw offered some advice to Davis, too.

“Challenge him,” Upshaw said. “Some kids don’t like being pushed. He responds to challenges.”

That was music to Davis’ ears.

'Lunch pail and hard hat'

Over four years at Santa Clara, Bediako shot 54 percent from the free-throw line.

“I got on him about it,” Davis said. “I asked him, ‘How did you maintain your good grades way they were?’ He said, ‘I worked at it.’ I said, ‘Well, if you keep at this, over time your muscle memory will get better.'”

Davis tasked him with shooting 300 free throws per day: 100 in the morning, 100 in the afternoon and 100 at night. Bediako didn’t understand why it was split up that way. After a while, Davis showed him the data: His percentage plummeted in the evening session. Worn down by long days, he’d lose focus.

It was a lesson in consistency, and Bediako took note. So far this season he’s shooting 73 percent from the line. He’s also averaging career bests in scoring (9.1 points per game), rebounding (7.7), blocks (1.9) and field-goal percentage (.587). That kind of across-the-board spike is rare for an up-transfer.

“I’ve never been in the gym this much,” he said.

Bediako also does important things that don’t show up in the box score. He’s a master screener for Hall guards Kadary Richmond and Al-Amir Dawes. He’s good at hedging and recovering for a defender his size. He doesn’t hoist shots – his takes are high-percentage. He’s got Velcro hands. He knows his role and he’s unselfish.

Asked about the key to his board-mongering, Bediako replied with a chuckle, “You want me to give away all my secrets? It’s just will. You’ve got to want it. I want it because I know I’m really helping my team. When I get an offensive rebound, I look at it as scoring two points.”

Know your role. Back home in the Toronto area, his high school coach watches Seton Hall and sees the ultimate teaching point.

“Everyone wants to be a pick-and-pop Luka Doncic kind of guy, but I say to my guys, (Bediako) comes in with his lunch pail and hard hat and he’s making a name for himself all across America,” Upshaw said. “ Big J is special because he cares and works and listens. A lot of guys just try to tell you what they want. They don’t want to hear, ‘Here is what’s best for you,’ or more important, ‘Here is what’s best for the team.’”

Picked to finish ninth in the Big East’s preseason coaches’ poll, Bediako's team sits tied for third (14-8 overall, 7-4 Big East) heading into Wednesday’s home game against Georgetown. The Pirates were left for dead in December after struggling through non-conference play at 7-4. Bediako remembers Holloway’s reassuring words at the lowest point.

“Nobody believes in this team, but I believe in this team,” Holloway said. “I believe in you.”

Then came a season-turning upset of defending national champion UConn, in which Bediako posted 10 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. He outplayed 7-foot-2 Huskies star Donovan Clingan before Clingan left with an injury.

“There were times after I got here when I didn’t know if I could do this, if I’d made the right choice,” Bediako said. “This has exceeded my expectations so far. It’s not easy, getting new guys to play together. That’s a credit to our coaches.”

Embracing the experience

Last week, after tallying 12 points, seven rebounds and three blocks in a romp of DePaul, Bediako was headed to the stands to greet family members when Holloway ushered him over to a television reporter. Bediako aspires to a career in media after his playing days are over, and the coach ceded his postgame interview on Fox Sports 1 to him. It was a small breach in television protocol, but a big boost for the grad student.

“That’s the type of things he does to show he has confidence in you,” Bediako said. “The media exposure overall has been great. That’s one of the reasons I came here.”

He’s a big fan of Seton Hall’s student-run radio station, WSOU, has been a guest on multiple college hoops podcasts, and in general is embracing the entire experience with gratitude.

“I’ve seen our name in bracketology and I am like, ‘Wow -- I’ve never been a part of anything like this before,’” he said. “I want to get to March Madness so badly.”

It took Odysseus 10 years to get home after the Trojan War. As Jaden Bediako knows, the twists and turns make it that much sweeter.

Jerry Carino has covered the New Jersey sports scene since 1996 and the college basketball beat since 2003. He is an Associated Press Top 25 voter. Contact him at  jcarino@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Seton Hall basketball: Jaden Bediako a transfer portal steal